1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates in general to marine drilling riser systems and in particular to auxiliary line connections in a termination assembly of a marine riser assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
In offshore hydrocarbon drilling and production operations, a riser can be supported by the offshore platform through a termination ring. A flex joint and a diverter can be located at an upper end of the riser system and mechanically connected to the offshore platform. A telescopic joint or slip joint can be associated with the termination ring to adjust for a change in length of the riser system as the offshore platform moves relative to the subsea wellhead. In order to provide a conduit for auxiliary fluids and communication lines to travel from the offshore platform to the riser system, drape hoses can extend from the offshore platform to the termination ring by way of a terminal block that is associated with the termination ring. A fluidly sealed connection is made up between the drape hoses and the riser system.
In some current designs, a piston extends from a terminal block of the termination ring and is moved into a piston receptacle of the riser system. However, the weight of the drape hose and a radially extending portion of the terminal block, such as a gooseneck, biases the terminal block downward and in tension causing a bending moment and deflection of the terminal block relative to the piston receptacle of the riser system. This can case misalignment between the piston and the piston receptacle and can result in the piston to scraping along a side of the piston receptacle while trying to stab the piston into the piston receptacle, leading to galling on both the piston and the piston receptacle. Galling can cause permanent damage to the piston and the piston receptacle, requiring rework or replacement. In addition, because the piston can be misaligned with the piston receptacle and subject to a bending moment, the piston can become locked in the piston receptacle and be unable to be released. Both locking of the piston and permanent damage to the piston or piston receptacle can require rework or replacement of the components and can therefore result in downtime and lost revenue.